Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
10 memorable Thatcher quotes on economics and freedom
10 memorable Thatcher quotes on economics and freedom
Dec 31, 2025 6:38 AM

1. “Pennies don’t fall from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth.” (Speech at Lord Mayor’s Banquet, 11/12/79)

2. “If a Tory does not believe that private property is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom, then he had better e a socialist and have done with it.” (Article for Daily Telegraph, “My Kind of Tory Party,” 01/30/1975)

3. “I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society – from a give-it-to-me to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.” (Speech, 1984)

4. “My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.” (The News of the World, 9/20/81)

5. “The choice facing the nation is between two totally different ways of life. And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark, divisive clouds of Marxist socialism and bring together men and women from all walks of life who share a belief in freedom.” (Speech, 1983)

6. “I think we’ve been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it’s the government’s job to cope with it. ‘I have a problem, I’ll get a grant.’ ‘I’m homeless, the government must house me.’ They’re casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first. It’s our duty to look after ourselves and then, also to look after our neighbour. People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There’s no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation.”(Women’s Own magazine, 10/31/87)

7. “Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money.” (This Week, 2/5/76)

8. “There are significant differences between the American and European version of capitalism. The American traditiionally emphasizes the need for limited government, light regulations, low taxes and maximum labour-market flexibility. Its success has been shown above all in the ability to create new jobs, in which it is consistently more successful than Europe.”(The Path To Power)

9. “As Prime Minister between 1979 and 1990 I had the opportunity to put these convictions into effect in economic policy. We intended policy in the 1980s to be directed towards fundamentally different goals from those of most of the post-war ear. We believed that since jobs (in a free society) did not depend on government but upon satisfying customers, there was no point in setting targets for ‘full’ employment. Instead, government should create the right framework of sound money, low taxes, light regulation and flexible markets (including labour markets) to allow prosperity and employment to grow.” (The Path To Power)

10. “Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul.” (Sunday Times, 5/1/81)

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Training Them Up In The Way They Should Go: Entrepreneurial Education
Entrepreneurs aren’t just born. Like any other endeavor, there are natural talents involved, but building a business takes an incredible amount of work and knowledge. It’s one thing to have an idea; it’s something else to figure out financing, marketing, advertising, manufacturing…. At Verily magazine, Krizia Liquido tells of a program aimed at high school girls to help them learn necessary skills for entrepreneurial success. “Entrepreneurs in Training,” a 10-day intensive workshop, takes place at Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership...
Obamacare: A Pathway From Work To Welfare?
If the National Bureau of Economic Research is to be believed, Obamacare stands to cause more than 1 million Americans to shift from work to welfare. Why? America will lose an abundance of low-paying full-time jobs to relieve employers of health-care cost burdens. The Wall Street Journal recently reported: [A] number of restaurants and other low-wage employers say they are increasing their staffs by hiring more part-time workers to reduce reliance on full-timers before the health-care law takes effect. “I’d...
Growing Religious Intolerance In Sudan
Religious intolerance is mon around the world, and Sudan is one country where Christians are especially vulnerable. As a minority in a nation that is 97 percent Muslim, Christians there are worried that their right to practice their faith freely is more and more at risk. According to Fredrick Nzwili, a two-decade long civil war continues to fester. The two regions had fought a two-decade long civil war that ended in 2005, following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement....
The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round…Unless the Government Steps In
I’m getting ready to take a bus ride this week. For under $70, I get a round-trip from my city to Chicago. I’ll have free wi-fi, a clean fortable ride, and I don’t have to deal with Chicago traffic. It’s convenient, quick, inexpensive and easy. It’s also an entrepreneurial dream. So what does the government have against bus travel in America? Check out this video from Reason: ...
Tithing and the Economic Potential of the Church
Self-proclaimed “tithe hacker” Mike Holmes has a helpful piece atRELEVANT Magazine on how tithing could “change the world.” (Jordan Ballor offers some additional insightshere.) Holmes begins by observing that “tithers make up only 10-25 percentof a normal congregation” and that “Christians are only giving at 2.5 percent per capita,” proceeding to ponder what might be plished if the church were to increase its giving to the typical 10 percent. His projections are as follows: $25 billion could relieve global hunger,...
The War on Poverty’s Best Weapon is a Job
Paychecks are the vehicle for upward mobility, wealth and personal fulfillment in life, says Mike Varney. So why aren’t we doing everything in our power to create more of the jobs that are the source of those paychecks? It’s all very simple. Companies create jobs. Jobs are what create paychecks. Paychecks are what gives individuals and families purchasing power and choice in their lives. Jobs and paychecks create futures and give humans a sense of purpose, contribution and connection. Jobs...
Lord Acton on Catholic and Modern Views of Liberty
One of the more famous quotes from the eminently quotable Lord Acton is his dictum, “Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.” Actually, this appears in his writings in a slightly different form, as is seen below. It is clear from the quote itself that Acton is contrasting two different views of liberty. But from the larger context we can rightly describe these two views as...
‘Freedom … doesn’t just settle in your lap’
Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who made a splash at the last Prayer Breakfast at the White House, will now be writing a weekly column at The Washington Post. Carson has retired from his position as head of pediatric surgery at John Hopkins Hospital, and is now interested in speaking out on issues affecting American life. In an interview with The Daily Caller,Carson stated that he wanted to encourage Americans to speak up about their thoughts on the direction the...
God or Gov: Loving Father or Monster Tyrant?
Fr. Benjamin Sember, a Catholic priest, has written a superb piece on the dangers of making the government one’s God: When a society has made the decision to live without God, that society inevitably begins to rely on the Government to do everything that God used to do: to declare what is right and what is wrong, to protect the innocent and punish the guilty, divide the wheat from the chaff and throw the evildoers into maximum security prison, to...
John Calvin on civil government
Though primarily a theologian, the famous Reformation figure John Calvin had much to say about the application of biblical principles to politics. His focus on the sovereignty of God in all aspects of Creation led Calvin to believe in God’s ordinance not only in the spiritual realm, but also in civil government. Citing Scriptural passages such as Proverbs 8:15-16 – “By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved